Wild world

Wildlife of Haiti

Frogs and the environment in Haiti Scientists have remarkably rediscovered six species of endemic frogs in the remote southern mountains of Haiti. Amphibians are seen as a ‘barometer species’ for ecological health and could represent a source of hope for the country’s environmental future, so linked with its terrible poverty.

…the ecosystems these frogs inhabit, and their ability to support life, is critically important to the long-term wellbeing of Haiti’s people, who depend on healthy forests for their livelihoods, food security and fresh water. Amphibians are what we call barometer species of our planet’s health. They’re like the canaries in the coal mine. As they disappear, so too do the natural resources people depend upon to survive

Haiti’s Desperate Wildlife – blog about reseacher doing study on endemic Hispaniolan birds

• The conservation situation on the Haitian side of Hispaniola is so desperate, writing my thesis has been very depressing. Haiti’s forest cover has been reduced to approximately 1%. The only remaining primary habitat is restricted to two forest reserves, which suffer from illegal logging, squatting, and farming…
• There are over 30 endemic species of birds on Hispaniola, and many endemic subspecies. The numbers with other taxa I am not familiar with, but Hispaniola is definitely a center of endemism for just about everything from frogs to butterflies to orchids and just about everything else.

Expedition to the Massif de la Hotte

Our ultimate destination was Massif de la Hotte, the far-southwestern mountain range of the island, which supports one of the last remnants of cloud forest in Haiti. Until about 2.5 million years ago, the Massif de la Hotte was separated from the rest of Haiti by a deep, wide sea channel, which resulted in a hotbed of endemism in its plant and reptile communities. Massif de la Hotte is also home to the endemic Gray-crowned Palm-Tanager. My goal was to assess the evolutionary uniqueness of the birds of Massif de la Hotte, in hopes of pinging the attention of the ornithological community to the drastic conservation measures that will be necessary to protect it.

Saving unique biodiversity in Haiti | Durrell Wildlife Foundation

Haiti’s forests support an incredible diversity of endemic animals. However, only 3% of these forests remain and are being lost at a rate of 10% every five years, with the result that many species are globally threatened or even possibly extinct. The Massif de la Hotte is a mountainous area in south-westernmost Haiti, and is one of the few areas still retaining forest cover, albeit reduced to a patchwork of remnants within the Macaya National Park. These forests represent one of the most important places in the world for the conservation of threatened vertebrates – 42 globally threatened mammals birds, reptiles and amphibians occur there.

Wildlife Extra News - Haiti on brink of mass extinctions Haiti is on the brink of an era of mass extinctions similar to the time when dinosaurs and many other species suddenly disappeared from the Earth, a leading biologist is warning.